Town House will be highlighting the plight of the Bethnal Green Mulberry tree during the Chelsea Fringe festival 2019 with a window display featuring an amazing model of the tree. Come and learn about its history and hear the story of the campaign to save it in a talk at Town House on the 22ndMay.
The Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life traces the controversial saga of the Bethnal Green Mulberry, believed to be the oldest tree in the East End. Yet in spite of a Tree Protection Order and designation as a Veteran Tree, Tower Hamlets Council have granted permission to dig it up and although the Mulberry survived a bomb in World War Two, it is questionable whether it will survive being uprooted by the developers who want to build a block of luxury flats. Widely understood to have been planted by Bishop Bonner in 1540, recent research suggests the origin of the Bethnal Green Mulberry may be even earlier.
The talk at Town House is at 6.30pm on 22nd May and we’ll be toasting the tree with an appropriate mulberry beverage! Although the event is free, space is limited so please reserve your tickets on Eventbrite here:-
Nurses dancing round the tree when it put forth new growth in 1944.
Photo courtesy of Royal London Hospital Archives